Cameras with pre-loaded unexposed film, commonly referred to as single-use or disposable cameras, have recently become well known. Typically, the single-use camera is a simple point-and-shoot type which comprises a plastic light-tight inner body housing a fixed-focus taking lens, a film metering mechanism, a single blade shutter, a frame counter for indicating the number of exposures remaining for picture-taking, possibly a built-in electronic flash unit, and a decorative cardboard outer cover or casing containing the light-tight inner body and having respective openings for the taking lens, a shutter release button, a film advance thumbwheel, a direct see-through viewfinder, the frame counter, and a flash emission window. At the manufacturer, the light-tight inner body is loaded with a 12, 24, or 36 exposure 35 mm film cassette and substantially the entire length of the unexposed filmstrip is factory prewound from the cassette onto a spool in the inner body or simply into a roll. Then, after the photographer takes a picture, he or she manually rotates the thumbwheel to rewind the exposed frame into the cassette. The rewinding movement of the filmstrip the equivalent of slightly more than one frame width rotates a metering sprocket to decrement the frame counter to its next lower-numbered setting. Further details of this operation are disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,366, issued Aug. 10, 1993, and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,130, issued Dec. 26, 1989. When the maximum number of exposures available on the filmstrip are exposed and the filmstrip is completely rewound into the cassette, the camera is given to a photofinisher who first disassembles or breaks open the single-use camera. Then, the photofinisher removes the cassette with the filmstrip from the inner body, separates the filmstrip from the cassette, and develops the negatives and makes prints for the customer. Also, the photofinisher forwards the disassembled camera to the camera manufacturer for recycling. The camera manufacturer, in turn, recycles the single-use camera in part by loading it with fresh unexposed film.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,198, issued Sep. 15, 1992, discusses the low efficiency of disassemblying or breaking open the single-use camera to obtain the unexposed filmstrip for processing, and proposes instead that the camera body be formed with a film-egress slot located adjacent an exposed film chamber. The film-egress slot is normally light tightly closed by a plate or door, which is opened to permit the filmstrip to be removed from the exposed film chamber. However, the single-use camera must be disassembled by the recycler to reload it with fresh unexposed film.